Meet Our Talented Team



At Equipping Farmers International (EFI), our dedicated team is passionate about transforming communities through agricultural discipleship. We combine expertise in conservation agriculture, applied technology, training, financial management, and more to empower local churches and their members. By equipping Churches with practical skills and biblically based stewardship practices, we help communities achieve food security and financial sustainability​.

photo of frank sindler training
After a career in environmental and occupational health, Frank has more than 30 years of experience working internationally and has founded many organizations to strengthen churches and impact communities. He is now channeling his expertise into regenerative agricultural development after becoming a certified trainer and seeing the amazing impact of these farming methods.

Frank Sindler

Executive Director

alfredo alvarez
Alfredo is a nutritionist who has been involved in the tourism and agriculture business, his passion is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God through agriculture and to see a generation free from the yoke of hunger and poverty.

Support Alfredo’s work in South America!

Alfredo Alvarez

Americas Director

Lavender Bouwens Portrait
Lavender Bouwens and her family own a small family farm in Baltimore, Maryland. They have used the farm for growing veggies, for Community Supported Agriculture programs, food banks, and to support their family. They now use the farm to teach the ICCA and engage with the church to raise awareness of agricultural discipleship. Lavender is the North American Region Director and Human Resources Director for EFI.

Lavender Bouwens

North America Director

michael cooley photo
Michael is a husband, father and agriculturalist. He holds a B.S. in Business and Government, the PDC, a Graduate Certificate in Agroforestry, and an MSc Natural Resources/Agroforestry. Before joining Equipping Leaders International (ELI) and now EFI as an agricultural specialist, he had a successful career in executive management and finance, and taught permaculture design.

Michael Cooley

Director of Agriculture

photo of cecilia diaz
Cecilia Díaz holds a hopeful ambition to help build self-sustained food supply systems with hyperlocal producers and family-based economies. With a M.Sc. in Horticulture and holistic view of soil and nutrition, she has helped local farmers and restaurant owners find impactful solutions to their farm operations and food supply challenges.

Cecilia Diaz

Training and Curriculum Coordinator

Bill is a livestock veterinarian who holds a DVM from Oklahoma State University. He worked in livestock practice in the US before spending 10 years in SE Asia in veterinary missions with his wife (also a veterinarian) and 2 children. They were focused on teaching livestock husbandry to community farmers and to ministry students at a Christian college.

Bill DuBois

Director of Veterinary Programs

Jerry holds a theology degree from Dallas Baptist University. He has served as Senior Director of Missions/Church Planting at Park Cities Presbyterian and Global Mobilization/Western Hub Director at MTW. With more than 23 years in cross-cultural ministry, Jerry believes we are in a new age of global missions. He longs to see the global church taking the Gospel to every nation. Jerry is married to Kerry, and they have two daughters.

Jerry Gibson

East Asia Director

Mark grew up on a family farm and in the family farm equipment business. He left farming for careers in accounting and software consulting. Mark has been active in church leadership for many years and has served as a board member and treasurer for several non-profit organizations. Now in semi-retirement, Mark is using his expertise to assist EFI in helping people around the world thrive and become food secure.

Mark Johnson

Director of Finance

Evan Jones lived in Ivory Coast for 14 years as a missionary kid and after graduating returned to West Africa as a missionary with Mission to the World. He served for 5 years as a church planter in Burkina Faso. In 2021, Evan began an agricultural training program with Foundations for Farming in Burkina Faso.

Evan Jones

West Africa Regional Director

rachel lamb portrait
Rachel graduated from Southeastern University with a degree in social work. She recently earned her Master of Social Work from Walden University. With five years of experience working with databases, Rachel has served as a training advisor for ThirdMill, focusing on partnership development and database management. She is skilled in CRM systems and continues to solve technological issues to improve systems. Rachel is married with three children and lives in Delaware.

Rachel Lamb

Database Administrator

Mike and his wife Robin have served in missions for 25 years working in Latin America and Africa. Mike coordinates the internship program with EFI as well as placement of international trainers.  Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, he also works with EFI’s Panama training center. Having experienced food insecurity in Africa Mike has a passion to help train others in alleviating food insecurity. 

Mike McMahan

Director of Trainer Placement

Robin has a master’s in International Community Economic Development and with her husband Mike has been a missionary for 25 years in Latin America and Africa. Now, she is excited to bring small church-centered savings groups together with EFI’s farming training to help farmers mobilize their own resources.

Robin McMahan

Director of Stewardship and Savings Groups

Xolani has 10 years of experience as a certified trainer in conservation agriculture for community farmers and rural church leaders in Zimbabwe. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and an Honors Degree in Theology, he works within the Bulawayo Presbytery promoting the shepherd farmer concept as a church planting model.

Xolani Ndlovu

Southern and Central Africa Regional Director

Mike’s background is in dairy and beef production. He worked as a herdsman, farm manager and food animal embryologist and now serves as mission trip manager for Mission to the World. His hope is for many to know Christ while learning to be food secure.

Mike Peifer

Administrative Coordinator

photo of Franklin
Franklin has served international NGOs in a variety of capacities, including regional coordinator for South Asia and coordinator for India. In 2020, he began training marginalized communities across India in Foundations for Farming methods. He considers it a privilege to serve marginalized communities by building their capacity to transform their lives.

Franklin Sathyanathan

Asia Regional Director

Veronica has a MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. She served as a full-time missionary for over 13 years working cross-culturally in the areas of organizational management, leadership development, long-term strategy and vision implementation. She is passionate about restoration for the Body of Christ in the Global South – in farmland, dignity and sustainable livelihoods.

Veronica van Schuylenburg

Chief Operating Officer

photo of Andy
Andy served in the Marine Corp Reserve and has worked as a diesel mechanic and in the building trades. He also served sixteen years with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in confinement. He is a deacon in the PCA and is ready to serve the global church.

Andy Warren

Director of Applied Tech/Water

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